NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Boston, MA, January 25, 2025: U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Indian American jurist based in Boston, has blocked the Trump administration from ending legal protections for more than 8,400 relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, dealing a significant setback to the administration’s immigration agenda.
In a ruling issued on January 24, Judge Talwani granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from terminating humanitarian parole granted under family reunification parole programs created or expanded during the Biden administration.
The affected individuals are from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. They were admitted legally to the United States under programs that allowed family members of U.S. citizens and green card holders to live and work in the country while awaiting immigrant visas.
DHS, now under Secretary Kristi Noem, had announced plans to end the programs earlier this month, arguing that they did not align with President Donald Trump’s immigration priorities and were vulnerable to misuse. The department said the programs bypassed traditional immigration pathways, though it did not provide detailed evidence to support those claims.
Judge Talwani rejected the government’s arguments, finding that DHS failed to provide a reasoned explanation for ending the programs and did not adequately consider the harm to families who had already uprooted their lives to move to the United States. In her order, she ruled that the decision appeared “arbitrary and capricious” under federal administrative law.
Without the injunction, the parole recipients would have lost lawful status and work authorization, potentially forcing them into undocumented status or exposing them to deportation. The judge’s order allows them to retain their legal protections while the lawsuit continues.
The ruling is part of a broader pattern of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle humanitarian parole programs introduced or expanded under President Joe Biden. Judge Talwani has previously issued injunctions in related immigration cases, though some earlier decisions were later narrowed or overturned on appeal.
DHS has not yet said whether it will appeal the ruling. The injunction remains in effect pending further court proceedings.
